Extra-fast recovery in India, China, Australia - IMF

By Yoo Choonsik

SEOUL (Reuters) - The IMF said on Thursday the economies of India, China and Australia were recovering especially rapidly, suggesting it notices growing pressures for authorities there to tighten monetary policy ahead of others in the region.

"In a few special cases...the recovery is advancing so rapidly that output gaps are already starting to close and pressures are already emerging," the International Monetary Fund said in a regional economic outlook report, released in Seoul.

It called the three economies special cases, while adding a tightening of monetary policy seemed unnecessary elsewhere in the region in the near future.

The comments add to growing expectations among global traders that some major emerging economies would start to raise interest rates and remove stimulus measures far ahead of advanced economies.

Australia's central bank already raised its interest rate this month, becoming the first major economy to tighten monetary policy since the financial crisis started.

The Indian central bank on Tuesday laid the groundwork for a rise in interest rates by tightening credit to the commercial property sector, lifting its inflation forecast and warning of the threat of asset price bubbles.

The IMF upgraded economic growth forecasts for Singapore for 2009 and 2010 from its previous projections announced on Oct. 1, but did not elaborate.

The IMF said the recovery in the region was tentative and that the pick-up in economic activity had so far been supported by factors that were either temporary or could turn out to be so.